TIGER IN THE ZOO

Summary:
The poem is about a tiger that is very beautiful and is walking in his little cage. He is having
beautiful stripes on his skin and has velvet-like soft paws. But he is not happy and is quite
angry in the cage. The poet says that the tiger may try to hide behind the long grass, but here
he is not able to do so. He is in a strong cage and so he is helpless. He cannot show his power
to the visitors. Poet is describing the tiger as being powerless and agonized. Cage life has
totally changed his personality. Thus the intention of the poet is to say that the animal,
famous for its fearlessness and freedom is confined and sad only due to human beings. This
poem is showing the pitiful condition of the tiger in the zoo. It shows the poor condition of
the tiger in a cage. In a zoo, the tiger walks in the limited space provided to it in the cage. He
can take a few steps. There are stripes on his body which are easily noticeable. His paws are
soft like velvet. He does not make any noise while walking on his ‘pads of velvet’. Usually,
the tiger is silent but in anger. Poet suggests that the cage is not the proper place for the tiger,
as it is not its natural habitat. Thus, the tiger in the cage is a victim of human cruelty.
Generally, tigers are found sitting under some bushes or long grass near some water bodies so
that the tiger can see its prey like deer coming there to drink water, and consequently can
slide silently through the grass and kill them. The poet wants to convey to all humankind that
the tiger should be there in the forest and not in a cage. Further, the poet gave a suggestion
that the tiger should be sitting at the jungle’s edge near the village. It may terrorize the people
passing that way by showing its sharp teeth, baring its claws and producing a roaring sound
of anger. Poet has deep sympathy due to the unpleasant situation of the tiger who is
imprisoned in a cell made of concrete. Tiger is unable to come out due to the strong bars
fixed at the concrete cell. So, the tiger’s strength is locked behind the bars. All such
circumstanced are making tiger having no interest in the visitors. And, he keeps on stalking in
the limited space of the cage. The poet is trying to make realize the people about a tiger who
is sitting in the cage and feeling unpleasant and restless. Tiger is still showing no interest in
the sound created by the patrolling cars of the zoo authorities. The poet is showing him
staring at the shining stars with his brilliant eyes. The poet is raising a moral issue here and
he intends to present a strong case against the cruelty of humans for the animals kept in
cages.
Poetic Devices
A Tiger in the Zoo’ by Leslie Norris begins with a synecdoche. By using “vivid stripes” the
poet refers to the body of the tiger. The poet uses personification for investing the tiger with
the qualities of humans. There is a metaphor in “velvet quiet”. Here, the poet compares the
pads of the tiger to velvet. Moreover, in “quiet rage” there is a personal metaphor
and oxymoron as well. Apart from that, in the second stanza, the poet uses alliteration in the
last line. The “concrete cell” in the following stanza contains consonance. In the last stanza,
uses a metaphor of “voice” for the sound made by the patrolling cars. The repetition of
“brilliant” in the last two lines is meant for emphasizing the similarity between the stars and
the eyes of the tiger.
Short Answer Type Questions
1. What do you understand by `His strength behind bars’? What kind of a cage is he
locked in?
The tiger is wretched in its cage. His power is confined behind the bars. He was locked in a
small cage where he is devoid of freedom. He feels unhappy, frustrated, restless and angry.
2. The tiger in the poem ‘A Tiger in the Zoo’ has some obvious limitations, describe
them in contrast to its natural habitat.
The tiger in the zoo was confined to a small space. He was angry that he couldn’t be free to
move, hunt and do what he pleased, he is forced to be a showpiece; and the cage’s bars
obstructed his view of the starry night. This was all unlike his natural habitat where he hunted
fiercely and slept fitfully.
3. What message does the poet want to convey through the poem—Tiger in the Zoo’?
The poet wants to convey that it is cruel to keep wild animals in small enclosures of the zoo,
away from their natural habitat. They feel angry, helpless and unhappy and remember their
life and environment in the forest.
4. Why do you think the tiger was stalking in the cage? What does it show?
The tiger was feeling restless and uneasy in that small cage. He seems to be frustrated and
helpless as he could not come out of the cage in the open and enjoy his freedom. He did not
want to be a mere showpiece and a source of entertainment for human beings.
5. What difference do you find in the mood of a tiger when he is in a zoo and when he is
in a forest?
In the zoo, in his small cage and devoid of freedom, the tiger feels unhappy rather frustrated,
restless and angry. In the forest, he enjoys moving majestically wherever he wants, terrorizes
the villagers by displaying his sharp teeth and claws. He is happy in the forest, enjoying his
liberty and surroundings, but not in the zoo.
6. What does the poet say about a tiger in his natural surroundings?
The poet says that the tiger should be in the jungle. It is his natural habitat. In the jungle, he
moves in the long grass near a water hole. He hides in shadow to hunt the deer for his food.
7. Where is the strength of the tiger and how does he treat the visitors?
The tiger is imprisoned in a cage. So his strength is behind the bars. He paces to-and-fro the
length of the cage. Visitors come to his cage. But he ignores those visitors.
8. How does the tiger behave at night?
At night the tiger feels lonely. He hears the sound of the patrolling cars. He looks through the
bars at the shining stars. His eyes are also shining.
9. How does the tiger prepare himself for hunting when he is in his natural habitat —
the jungle
The mighty tiger roams freely in his natural habitat – the wilds. He knows how to ambush his
prey. He waits for his prey lurking unseen in the shadow of trees. He slides through the long
grass quite unnoticed. He comes to the water hole where he can find his favourite prey –
plump deer.
10. How does the tiger feel locked in the concrete cell of the zoo? Why does he ignore the
visitors?
The tiger is basically an animal of the wilds. He is’ a denizen of the forest. Being locked in a
concrete cell of the zoo, he feels quite helpless. His immense strength is of no use to him as
he is put behind the bars. He only stalks the length of his cage. He ignores the visitors who
came to see him after buying their tickets. He doesn’t want to present himself as an object of
entertaining others.
11. What does the tiger do at night? What does he feel when he stares at the brilliant
stars in the sky?
The patrolling cars move around and the tiger hears their sound late at night. He is locked in a
cage but stares at the brilliant stars shining in the vast and open sky. The vast open sky and
the brilliant stars only intensify the feeling of helplessness that he feels inside the cage.
12. Freedom can’t be bargained at any cost. What message does Leslie Norris give to the
readers in ‘A Tiger in the Zoo’?
Not only humans but animals too cherish freedom. Freedom can’t be bargained. In this case,
a tiger may be well-fed and protected. However, the curtailment of his freedom keeps him in
‘quiet rage’. He resents being behind the bars. He is a different animal when he is in his
natural habitat, the jungle. He roams around the water hole and ambushes his favourite plump
deer.
13. Why are the tiger’s eyes brilliant? What is common between the eyes and the stars?
The tiger’s eyes shine brightly in the darkness of night. The stars are also shining in the sky.
The common thing between the tiger’s eyes and the stars is that both are brilliant.
.
Long Answer Type Questions
1. Give contrasting pictures of the tiger in his natural habitat and in the locked cage of
the zoo. How does he feel and behave differently in both places?
The tiger is a denizen of the forest. He loves to roam around freely in his natural habitat – the
jungle. There, he is totally free with no restrictions on his movements and activities. He
knows how to ambush his prey. He waits for his prey lurking silently in the shadow of the
trees. Then he slides unseen and unnoticed through the long grass. He knows where he can
find his favourite hunt—plump deer. It is the water hole where they come for drinking water
and become easy victims of the mighty tiger. The tiger knows no boundaries and limits.
Sometimes he roams around the houses which are situated on the edge of the jungle. With his
open white teeth and powerful paws, he terrorises the villagers. He rarely attacks them until
he is provoked.
However, it is a pathetic picture of the same tiger when he is locked in a concrete cell in the
zoo. The mighty and ferocious animal is put behind the bars. There he stalks in ‘quiet rage’
the length of his cage. He becomes just a piece of entertainment for visitors. But the proud
tiger just ignores them. At night from behind the bars, he keeps on staring at the brilliant stars
in the vast sky. The vastness of the sky and the brilliance of stars only intensifies his loss of
freedom.
2. Freedom is such an essential virtue that is valued not only by human beings but also
by animals alike. Justify the statement with reference to Leslie Norris’s poem ‘A Tiger
in the Zoo’.
Answer: Freedom is an essential virtue valued by all. Not only humans but even the denizens
of the forest value it. No one knows it better than a caged tiger in a zoo. Animals, particularly
the animals of the wilds, feel free only in their natural habitats. Any attempt to ‘domesticate’
ferocious and mighty animals like lions or tigers by locking them in concrete cells will be
against natural justice. The tiger roams around in the jungle hunting its prey at will. He rarely
kills his prey for sport. He kills them only when he is hungry. He knows how to ambush his
prey. He lurks unnoticed in the long grass before pouncing upon his prey. He also knows
where he can find his favourite plump deer. He may come out of the forest sometimes and
terrorise -the villagers living at the outskirts of the jungle. He rarely kills them till he is
provoked.
The same tiger feels depressed and low in spirits when he is put behind the bars. He stalks
constantly the length of his cage in his ‘quiet rage’. He ignores the visitors and feels helpless.
Behind the bars, he keeps on staring at the brilliant stars in the open sky. This sadly reminds
him of his loss of freedom and intensifies his grief.